ANNAPOLIS, Md. – After hitting the road for the first time earlier this week, the Navy men's soccer team (1-2-3) returns home Saturday afternoon to begin Patriot League play, hosting Holy Cross (1-3-1) in a 1 p.m. match at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.
 
Looking to stop a two-game slide, the Midshipmen will get set for a meeting with a Crusaders squad that just ended their own three-game losing skid, as the league contest is slated to be aired on ESPN+ with Dave McHugh on the call.
 
Navy in Patriot League Openers
The Mids are 3-4-2 in Patriot League openers under head coach Tim O'Donohue, posting a 3-2-1 record over their last six league-opening contests … Under O'Donohue, Navy has outscored opponents by a 12-9 margin in its league openers … Navy is 12-18-3 overall in Patriot League openers since joining the league in 1992, going 5-5-2 since the current configuration of PL schools formed in 2013.
 
No Place Like Home
The Mids have posted an impressive 19-10-14 mark at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility since the start of the 2021 season … Navy has outscored opponents, 61-38, in those 43 games … Head coach Tim O'Donohue is 38-25-19 in his career at Glenn Warner … Senior Andrew Schug has seven goals and two assists in 25 career home games, while fellow senior A.J. Schuetz has tallied five goals and one assist at home over 26 career games at the GWSF.
 
Last Time Out
A back-and-forth contest did not break the Midshipmen's way on Wednesday afternoon, as Navy suffered a 1-0 defeat at George Washington … Playing its first road game of the season, Navy had an impressive 10-save effort from goalkeeper Robert Eaton and several just-miss chances on the attacking end, but a counter-attack by the Revolutionaries at 74' found Joel Russ burying the match's lone goal … Tom Macauley registered four saves in the shutout, while Eaton's 10 saves marked a career high … A.J. Schuetz and Nick Gallucci paced the Mids with four shots each.
 
Navy Notes
The current Navy seniors have gone 18-23-21 in their time in Annapolis, going 9-8-10 in league play and making a pair of Patriot League Tournaments, including winning the 2022 league title as freshmen … The Mids are 6-1-3 all-time when A.J. Schuetz records a point, while Navy has tallied a 5-1-3 mark when Andrew Schug scores … Navy is also 2-1-1 when Wyatt Stevens nets a goal … With Will Cawlfield's tally against William & Mary, Navy needs one other rookie to register a goal to have multiple freshmen score in a season for the first time since the fall 2020/spring 2021 campaign, when both David Jackson and Baba Kallie scored as plebes … Only two non-senior goalkeepers have started a game in net for Navy since 2019: Pierce Holbrook (2022, 2023) and Dylan Carmody (2025).
 
Ranking the Mids
Andrew Schug's three goals are second in the Patriot League behind Bucknell's Jack Lucas (four goals) and sit 42nd nationally … Schug's seven points are also second in the league, while Duncan Sullivan's six points rank third in the PL … Robert Eaton's 0.882 save percentage ranks 28th in the nation and first in the Patriot League … Navy leads the league with 6.0 corner kicks per game (28th nationally) and ranks second at 14.33 shots per game (44th nationally).
 
Scouting Holy Cross
Entering Saturday at 1-3-1, the Crusaders opened the season with a 1-1 draw at Northeastern followed by losses to Merrimack, Brown and UMass Lowell before Tuesday's 2-0 win over Anna Maria … The victory over Anna Maria saw Kevin Cull post a three-point performance while Mateo Buyu registered the two-save shutout … Cull paces Holy Cross with five points on the season, while Thomas Mancuso holds the team lead with two goals … Buyu has collected 14 saves on the season while starting all five games … The Crusaders pace the league with 14.60 shots per game, ranking 40th in the nation … Holy Cross brings back one all-league performer, as Julian Beban earned All-Patriot League Third Team honors on defense last season.
 
Series History
Navy is 14-16-6 in the all-time series with Holy Cross … The Mids are 9-6-4 against the Crusaders all-time in Annapolis … Holy Cross holds a three-game unbeaten streak over the Mids, as the Crusaders' 3-0 win last season snapped Navy's own four-game undefeated streak in the series … The team's last meeting in Annapolis came on Oct. 21, 2023, as Pierce Holbrook's four-save shutout highlighted a 0-0 draw … Last year's game in Worcester on Oct. 20 saw the Crusaders get the 3-0 win thanks to goals from Ethan Gill, Mancuso and James Ferraro.
 
Up Next
Navy will host regional rival UMBC in a non-conference match on Tuesday night, Sept, 16, with the opening kick slated for 7 p.m. at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility.